West Ham United boss David Moyes spoke in his pre-match press conference on Tuesday afternoon at the club’s Rush Green training ground.
The Hammers go into the game off the back of Sunday’s 1-0 win over Aston Villa at Villa Park and having signed midfielder Lucas Paqueta in a deal that could rise to a club-record transfer fee.
Here is every word Moyes said on the derby, the transfer window, the future of Craig Dawson, Paqueta and more.
READ MORE: Every word David Moyes said on West Ham's Aston Villa win, Lucas Paqueta and Ben Johnson's injury
Any injury updates?
Like anything else, when you play a game on a Sunday and you have got a midweek game, it can take a bit of you. Like everybody else, we are all probably recovering. To have three Premier League games in a week for any team is always an ask. It is going to test your squad and the players you have. It will test us but hopefully, we will be okay.
Will anybody definitely be absent?
I didn’t say that.
Any names?
No, of course not. Like everybody else, the games come think and fast. Does it make it difficult? Yes.
You have signed Lucas Paqueta in a club-record signing. How pleased are you with that?
I’m really pleased. Right from the start, we’ve been watching him for a long time. Obviously, he really came into our attention when we played him against Lyon and he was the standout player who we felt was sort of a game-changer for them. When we looked a lot deeper, we went in and we didn’t think he was ever going to be available and I never thought at any time that we would make it happen. A big thank you to the board for making that happen, but he was always a player who we felt could play two or three positions, probably more than that. Then we started to have a look back at his games for Brazil and how well he had done for Brazil and his record for them. It all made good sense if we could get him. Getting good players and expensive players aren’t easy.
Do you have any concerns of it being a record signing and the pressures that come with that?
I might question your word record signing, but Sky have got to put out what they think their value is, so there is no problem for that.
How ready is he to play? Can he play against Tottenham?
He’s not trained with us. We’ve only got the paperwork done last night, late and we’re waiting on him arriving today because he’s had to go and get his visa etc, that has caused us a little bit of a problem this morning. He’s signed, which is great news for us. We’re really pleased we’ve got him. I really hope that he will be a big addition to us and a good player for West Ham in the future.
Do you think there will be any more ins or outs before the window shuts?
I wouldn't completely say no, but in the same breath it could easily be yes as well because we have one or two things we have to look at. It could change. We’ve got some young players who are wanted by other clubs and things could change that way. It might not necessarily be some people coming in, it might be some people going out.
What is the latest with Craig Dawson’s future, given links with a move away?
Well he’s had an injury for the best part of four or five weeks. He is back training now. Ideally, we wouldn’t, but it’s probably a much more complicated situation than what it is so it is an ongoing thing at the moment and we’ll just have to see how it goes.
Would you be interested in signing Ross Barkley following his exit from Chelsea?
I would never rule anybody out but I’ve got to say, Ross, I gave him his debut at 16 and he’s had a really good career. He’s played for England and played for big clubs. If it is not us, I wish him well wherever he does go.
Do you think he can still play at a high level?
I think so, I believe so and I think sometimes when you are in this situation, you have got maybe a little bit more to prove because you have to come back and show people exactly what you are.
What did you make of Bournemouth sacking Scott Parker?
Really disappointed for Scott because I think he was one of the young English managers who I think was making headway. I think to get Bournemouth up last year, he did a really good job. He was successful at Fulham as well. I don't think Scott Parker will be too long out of work, because I think a lot of clubs will be looking for Scott. But I am always disappointed when managers lose their job because it’s a difficult aspect. When we come into it, I think we all know exactly that sometimes, it is not that far away. Disappointed for Scott, but I don't think he will be out of the game too long.
A London derby and the occasion of it?
A huge game for our club and we want to try and perform well. We've tried to give Arsenal and Tottenham and Chelsea and whoever else we are playing big games and I think we have done over the past couple of seasons. No doubt Tottenham have improved, they’ve signed well, they’ve got some top class players.
And it is back-to-back derbies in fact, with Chelsea on Sunday?
Yes. It is interesting how the fixtures have come, I feel we’ve had quite a difficult opening but saying that, you have to take the games as they come along.
Do you find recruitment more difficult now that you are also competing in Europe?
Yes, because we are trying to have a level of player that we think we could use in both competitions and we’ve also had quite a big turnaround, but we knew that this was happening. I knew that at the end of last season, this was the way it was going to go and again, the players we want going to bring in and the idea of the numbers that was going to be required. That is the way it has panned out. I think because of Europe, then we are trying to make sure that we have got enough to field two good teams if we need to do so and I hope we can get that.
Did you see the win at Aston Villa coming?
I always see the wins coming, it’s getting them is the hard bit. We always plan to win and we always attack the games in a way where we think we’re going to. Sometimes it might not always look like it, but I thought there was little bits. I’ve been saying sort of week by week, there's been little bits of signs, not all of it, certainly not all of it at Villa. We got some good fortune at Aston Villa, we got a deflected goal which gave us the luck. At Notts Forest, we hit the underside of the bar twice and one kicked off the line and a goal disallowed and missed a penalty, so we might have been due a little bit of good fortune. Aston Villa are a really good team, a really good squad of players so to win away from home for us was really important.
What do you think the resiliency and improvement at Tottenham under Antonio Conte is down to?
It’s down to an incredibly good coach. Someone who knows how to win, someone who knows how to set his teams up to get results. Sometimes, and I admire him, sometimes it is not because of style, he is not interested in style, he is only interested in winning which I think to be a top manager, that has to really be at the forefront. You really have to able to win and sometimes, it is not done with the most degree of style but he’s very fortunate as well to have one or two hugely talented footballers in his team as well.
Is there loyalty in football given Scott Parker’s sacking and Alex Neil’s recent move from Sunderland to Stoke City?
I don’t think we should ever question the managers, I think that supporters of their clubs will. I think you guys, the media, probably quite enjoy because it’s the changes, you’ve got something to talk about, you’ve got questions to ask the managers and things to write and speak about. I’m disappointed that Scott Parker would lose his job so early. I thought he has done a really good job getting Bournemouth up. He was really successful at Fulham as well and it is very hard to be successful in football management. If you think how many football managers have success every year, their might only be three or four that are good enough to win a trophy, end up in Europe, maybe win a league title. There will be another another three or four who might have overachieved, done better. It’s very hard to be a successful manager and I think Scott’s had a couple years where I’d say, he’s got Bournemouth up, that was a great job doing that, and he’s done it at Fulham as well in my estimation. I think he won’t have a problem if he wants to work again, that is for sure.
Does the amount the club have spent this summer put pressure on you and push West Ham into a higher bracket of Premier League clubs because of how much they have spent?
I’d like to answer that by saying yes, definitely. We’ve spent really well. The board have done a great job in making funds available. Have we spent enough to get the ones really at that top end, I would have to say probably not. But, I still think we’ve got a really good squad of players. I think the difference was this year, we were short in January, we chose not to bring anybody in. We didn’t think we could find someone who could really help us, or replace Michail Antonio at times in games. It is really easy to sign players, it is easy for anybody to name a player and think we will get them, the harder bit is sometimes say no and be patient. That is what I believe. I do think that we needed the numbers, so we were always going to have to spend and get the numbers in, it was probably always going to be an expensive spend this year.
With Lucas Paqueta and Gianluca Scamacca coming in, are you going to change the way West Ham play, or are you going to change the way they play?
I think as a manager, you always have to mould to what you players have got as well and I think you have to pick up what you think the players can bring to the team. I think for example, Michail Antonio has done an unbelievable job in the way he has played centre forward for us, Scamacca will be a different type of centre forward. Paqueta can play a ten or eight and will maybe be different to how Jesse Lingard, who played for us and did really well, or maybe playing Said Benrahma. He (Paqueta) can also play a bit deeper, if we choose to play in midfield and three midfield players, which might give us the chance to do that as well. I think what we’ve got is a bigger flexibility than what we had before, but I also hope that we have added quality. We’ve added a couple of Italian internationals, we’ve added a Brazilian international, a German international, so we’ve started to bring in I think a better quality or a better level of player, but I think the proof will be in the pudding won’t it and hopefully, we have to get the time to give them a chance to mould into it and see how they do.
Does the fact Declan Rice has stayed show the ambition the club has got?
We are really trying to challenge as best as we can. It might take us a bit to go. I look at some of the other signings made by some of the other teams. We’re playing Spurs and you are going to ask me some questions on them. Spurs have made some really big signings this year. Richarlison for example, you probably don’t speak too much about Richarlison but it blows our record signings, just for talking. We’ve got a long way to go, but, we are trying to compete, we are trying to keep up with the Jones’s and we’re trying to keep it going.
Do Tottenham Hotspur have the best front three in the league?
It’s certainly very close to it. Folk would say, folk could put a case up for Liverpool’s front three, folk would put a case up for City with (Erling) Haaland in the team and how good they are. I don’t know if anybody could make that comparison exactly, is it the best three? I think they are a very, very good front line and obviously Harry Kane and Son (Heung-min) have been very big players for them over the last season or two.
You’ve managed in derbies in Merseyside and Glasgow. Is West Ham vs Tottenham the biggest of the lot?
I think when you come from Glasgow, I think the biggest will always be an Old Firm game if you come from Glasgow. I also got asked those questions when I was at Liverpool and I also got asked those questions when I was at Manchester as well. Every derby is really important for the manager, for the club, it can give everybody a really good feeling. It just so happens that we are up against a very good Tottenham team as well.
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